Get Social

More young people signing up for Medicaid

Messenger-Inquirer (Owensboro, KY)

Nov. 22--A larger-than-expected number of Kentuckians who are obtaining Medicaid coverage under the expanded population are young adults, according to new research.

A Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky report released Monday reveals that half of the 636,000 adults adults who have signed up for Medicaid by the second quarter of this year are between the ages of 19 and 34. Nearly 78 percent of that population, or 493,199 people, qualified for Medicaid through the expansion, which increased the threshold to 138 percent of the federal poverty line.

The findings are the latest in an ongoing study on the impact of the Affordable Care Act in Kentucky, and they shed light on a growing Medicaid population: young people.

Suzanne Craig is in charge of the Community Access Project at the Green River District Health Department. She said the expansion, a focal point of the Affordable Care Act, met a need few public health officials knew existed. Many young people, she said, were alienated from care because they couldn't afford private health insurance premiums, yet they didn't qualify for Medicaid under the original requirements. Many of these people are single and work multiple jobs, primarily in the service industry.

"We're noticing new people in the community who weren't getting medical help, like college students," she said. "Now we're working with these people; many of them have several jobs, and they're having a challenging time making ends meet. What we've noticed, though, is that there's a stereotype that all people on Medicaid aren't working. This shows that's just not true. Most of these folks have more than one job in the service industry. They're making the community a better place to live and improving the quality of life."

Craig said the number of young people on Medicaid appears to be growing. Western Kentucky, according to the foundation report, accounted for almost 26 percent of the Affordable Care Act's expansion population, just under eastern Kentucky, where 31 percent of the Medicaid expansion population lives. Combined, the greater Louisville, Lexington and northern Kentucky areas made up less than half. Kentucky's expansion population now more than triples the size of the traditional income-based Medicaid population, due, in large part, to the younger population.

"Medicaid expansion was most important for younger Kentucky adults," said Ben Chandler, foundation president and CEO. "This tends to be the healthiest population but, if they lose insurance, they're not likely to take advantage of the preventative care that will help keep them healthier throughout their lives. Moving forward, then, the goal has to be keeping them insured."

Younger adults have been blamed for rising premiums within private plans on federal and state health insurance marketplaces this year. Experts have speculated that a lack of young people signing up for private plans has tipped the scales with overwhelmingly older and unhealthier Americans. The news comes midway through the open enrollment period for 2017 health insurance coverage. Craig said Medicaid beneficiaries who signed up for coverage before the Nov. 1 open enrollment start date have time to make coverage changes during this period.

All Kentuckians should remember, she said, that open enrollment ends Dec. 15, and those who haven't signed up by then risk gaps in coverage. The Affordable Care Act mandates that all Americans have health insurance. Those with any gaps in coverage risk paying spring tax penalties.

Gov. Matt Bevin's administration introduced a Medicaid waiver proposal that some believe represents an effort to scale back benefits among the expanded population. Bevin has said the expansion is too costly and that the system should ready recipients for the private health sector. That plan, called Kentucky HEALTH, is awaiting approval from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, a part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

A spokesperson for the governor's office Monday said the Republican administration remains confident that the Medicaid waiver will be approved, especially considering the results of this month's presidential election.

"Obamacare is imploding and Gov. Bevin supports a substantial overhaul of federal law and policies surrounding health care," said Amanda Stamper, the governor's director of communications. "The election results make clear that both in Kentucky and around the country, voters are mandating change."